The Furlong Trek: Day 1

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Pokhara - Jomsom - Marpha - Tukeche

We boarded the first flight of the day at around 6am. There were no more than 20 passengers - nice to see we still had a stewardess. The 25-minute flight from Pokhara to Jomsom is like no other: the light aircraft hugged the sides of the Himalayan foothills - at times it felt like the wing tips might just brush the tree canopy but then the hillside would fall away as we flew into a gorge. Mountains loomed large on both sides of the aeroplane.

As soon as we landed, we took breakfast. A German trekker, waiting to board the return flight to Pokhara, made some mention of the wind growing in strength throughout the day.

We began the trek. The landscape was a mixture of moonscape and alpine views. Niligri, the first mountain to tick off the list, would be our companion for the day alongside our guide, a mister Baburam Nepali (Babu, meaning baby, for short), whom we plucked from Pokhara to see we found our way back without needing the flares (not that we packed any).

The air was fresh. There was little sound but the rhythmic crunching of gravel beneath our marching feet. It took just 2 hours to reach Marpha, the delightful apple capital of Nepal. We climbed the steps of a Tibetan monastery where the monks, all young, polished the monastic silverware and joked around a little - much like any youngsters. The time was just 10am. Marpha was supposed to be our final destination for the day but, with some trepidation (after the ill-fated trip to Lhasa, at spending the night at higher altitude), we quickly decided to push on to Tukeche, not wishing to sit around all day and then having to cover a greater distance tomorrow.

The wind was certainly picking up and was constant, making conversation difficult but the walking was comfortable - more testing days will no doubt follow. We took a quick detour from our route to visit a Tibetan refugee camp (quick history lesson: China invaded Tibet back in the Fifties displacing many Tibetans who took refuge in other countries including neighbouring Nepal). As we walked into the camp we were ordered to halt. At that moment an arrow whistled past us and penetrated a wooden fence - Archery. Interesting place to put it - right by the entrance! Serious business was in progress: six archers were involved, two other folk kept score. As you might expect, the old guys were the best shot. On hitting the human-sized target cheers of "Ahem!" would ring out and the old guys would hop about with glee. We wandered around the settlement and, on departing, observed the winnings being handed over to the successful archers.

Onwards into the unrelenting wind. Our route for the next few days follows the Gandaki river into the deepest gorge in Nepal (and, according to our guide book, the world). I guess this is the cause of the natural wind tunnel we are walking against. It wasn't too long though before we were in Tukeche and dropping our rucksacks in our comfy cabin-like guest house and slurping up a precautionary garlic soup for lunch (said to be good for combating the ill-effects of being at high altitude).

Several hours to while away before an early night (standard practice for trekking folks) were spent drinking mint tea, penning this blog entry, taking a tepid shower, watching the clouds roll around Niligri, eating Daal Bhat (a watery lentil soup served with rice, a vegetable curry and a dollop of pickle, all in separate dishes ready for you to mix together in as many combinations as your imagination allowed and surprisingly good), and reading a bit of The Art of Happiness, pinched from Kieron to assist in filling the many hours of spare time trekking gives a Westerner, like myself, who is used to watching TV, listening to music or other distracting past-times. The book is a dialogue between the Dalai Lama and an American psychiatrist making for an interesting blend of Buddhist thoughts and Western science.

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Photos

Up, up and away
The fan in our room had more power!

In-flight entertainment...
...also known as the view

Marpha - the delightful apple capital of Nepal
Marpha is full of apple and apricot orchards though, sadly, none were bearing fruit.

Arrow mate!
An old Tibetan chap fires one off

I-i-i-i-i-i-n one!
Another old Tibetan chap plucks his arra from the target. Behind him, Tibet's answer to Jim Bowen declares: "you've got the fridge-freezer, set of golf clubs, pewter tankard and prize money. Do you want to gamble all that for what's behind the out-house. You've got the times it takes for the yak butter tea to come to the boil..."